WDW Trip Day 6 – Hollywood Studios

May 21, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

After a nice relaxing day at the pool (at least for my family since I ran around to numerous resorts instead) we were ready to visit the last theme park on property Hollywood Studios. We started the day having a character breakfast at Hollywood & Vine with the Disney Junior Character’s. This was another pretty standard Disney breakfast buffet, but this was one of the few places to see Sofia, Doc McStuffins, Handy Manny and Jake the Pirate. Our kids really liked meeting these characters which wasn’t too much of a surprise since they have only recently started watching the Disney Junior shows on TV.

After breakfast we headed back towards Hollywood Boulevard to check out some of the stores. While my family checked out the souvenirs I ran over to Oscar’s Super Service center which is mainly used for stroller and wheelchair rentals but they do have a penny machine located inside.

The machine has 3 penny designs: Snow White, the Cheshire Cat, and Aladdin. With these new pennies in my pocket I walked up Hollywood Boulevard and met my family in the Mickey’s of Hollywood store. Lucky for me this place has 3 machines that I needed to used.

Machine #1 has 3 quarter designs: 2015 Tinker Bell, Minnie Mouse and Belle. Machine #2 has 3 penny designs: Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Olaf from Frozen. The third machine also has 3 penny designs: Mickey with a Movie Camera, The Tower of Terror, and Mickey at a Drawing Table. After picking up some gifts we headed towards the Disney Animation courtyard and checked out the Disney Junior Love on Stage show. Even though we had just had breakfast with these characters our kids still loved see the puppet show with lots of singing and dancing. After the show we were aiming for The Great Movie Ride but before we left he Animation courtyard we passed by the In Character Shop. This is the first ever 12 design penny machine and it was really cool.

I wrote about this machine in a previous post which you can read by clicking this link. The coins are $1 each, or $10 for all 12. You can use cash, credit or Apple Pay as your form of payment and the machine supplies the coins which isn’t always to your benefit as you may get stuck with a bad penny. The 12 designs available are: Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Ariel, Pocahontas, Mulan, Jasmine, Tiana, Belle, Aurora, Merida, and Alice. This is really a great complete Princess Set that I would highly recommend.

After that machine my pockets were really getting weighed down but there were plenty more to get this day. After we rode the Great Movie Ride we headed to the Muppet Vision 3D Theater and let the kids check out the Stage 1 Company Store that has everything Muppet related you could think of. By one of the doors there was penny machine calling my name.

As you would expect this machine has Muppet related designs: Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, and Miss Piggy. By this time we could tell the kids were antsy to run around and get some energy out so we walked over towards Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. As I’m sure you may have guessed they also had a penny machine right outside which I quickly used before we entered the play area.

This machine has 4 designs: Iridessa, Flik, Tinker Bell, and Heimlick. Now this is a pretty big play area where everything is giant-sized so it seems like we have all been shrunken down to the size of ants (maybe even a little smaller). The kids had a great time running around and playing on the slides, cargo net (Spider web) and even the leaking hose that sprays water every so often.

Once we were ready to be transported back to our original size we headed over to the closest quick service food location which was the Studio Catering Company for a quick break and some much needed drinks. While my family sat and relaxed I walked over to the nearby Prop Shop to use the next 3 machines on my list.

The first machine has the following designs: 2015 Minnie Mouse, Jessica Rabbit, and Jack Jack from The Incredibles. Machine #2 was a hand crank version with 4 designs: Mickey with a Movie Camera, Merida, Agent P, and Buzz Lightyear. The third machine has 3 penny designs: Anna, Elsa, and Olaf all from Frozen.

Speaking of Frozen, by this time is was ready for our Fastpass to see the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration stage show. This was a really cute show, with large screens on the wall for the few people who don’t already know the words to all the songs (shame shame).

Of course Anna and Elsa make a special appearance to help close out the show. Unfortunately part way through the show Hanna was so exhausted she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Everyone has decided they were ready to head back to our resort for an afternoon rest, but with a few machines still to find I stayed behind with my father who helped me located them.

Our first stop was back to the Animation Courtyard, but headed into the Magic of Disney Animation building. This place has recently added a Baymax character meet and greet which was booming when we walked in. I found the machine near their character meet location and pressed the pennies.

This machine has 3 Baymax inspired designs: Baymax, Hiro, and Fred breathing Fire. The crowds seemed to be getting larger in this place so we walked around a bit to check out the artist on hand drawing animation cells, and then headed back outside. Next we headed down towards the Tower of Terror which neither my father or myself were going to attempt, but instead we checked out the Once Upon a Time gift shop. Inside by the side door closes to the Tower of Terror was one of their penny machine. This was another collection update I was doing as I had previously collected these designs but on old coins that wouldn’t clean up despite numerous different attempts. So next best option, press new ones on nice clean pennies.

These designs were all about Beauty and the Beast which has a stage show nearby. The 3 designs were: Lumiere & Cogsworth, Belle & Beast, and Mrs. Potts & Chip. We walked out of this store and into the one right next door called Legends of Hollywood.

This was a popular machine with 3 Frozen designs. I believe now in total there are 16 Frozen designs throughout the entire property but on this trip I hadn’t seen too many people collecting them. But this machine did have about 3 people using it before it was my turn. The 3 designs included: Anna, Anna & Elsa, and Olaf. There was only one last machine to get, but two places to stop before we left the park. My father is an avid collector of Starbucks mugs.

Through his work he has traveled all over the work and started picking up these mugs in each different country and has quite a nice collection. Before we headed on our trip I had read online about the new “Starbucks” locations within the Disney Parks. I used quotes because technically they aren’t labeled as Starbucks. Each of the 4 parks will have a Starbucks location, but when we visited the Animal Kingdom one hadn’t opened yet. The Epcot location didn’t have any mugs available as they had been pulled due to a recall on the mugs about the color of the monorail displayed on the mug. I believe this was because that color monorail had been in a crash that resulted in a casualty. So we had only been able to get the Magic Kingdom mug (he later got the new updated Epcot mug online after we returned home) and were now trying to get the Hollywood Studios version. The “Starbucks” was back on Hollywood Boulevard and labeled as the Trolley Car Cafe. While my dad waited in line for our coffee’s and his mug I ran next door to the Celebrity 5 & 10 Store to use the last machine on my list.

This machine also had 3 penny designs: Roger Rabbit, Lady & Tramp, and Baloo from the Jungle Book. I walked back over to the “Starbucks” just as my dad was finishing up. We took our frappuccinos and headed out of the park towards the bus stop to take us back to our resort.

After a nice relaxing afternoon we jumped on the bus back to Hollywood Studios for our diner reservation as the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. In all my trips to Disney I’ve never eaten hear and to be honest I’m not sure why. This place was really cool. The food wasn’t overly exciting but was classic diner food like burgers, fries and shakes with some other things mixed in. But the atmosphere was really amazing.

You are located indoors, but it looks like your outside at a Drive-In movie theater. We were seated in cars with a little table ledge that didn’t give a lot of room for food and drinks but was manageable. They played classic sci-fi horror movies with little cartoons intermixed for the kids. This really was another unique place to eat and I would recommend it if you haven’t tried it out before.

After dinner we walked around a bit just to try to work off the meal a bit. But it had been a long week so far and it was starting to take its toll. We eventually headed back to our resort for a restful night. The next day was our last full day in Florida and we had plans to get a very early start.

WDW Trip Day 5 – Pool Day

May 19, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

During our initial planning of this trip my family had made it very clear they wanted to have a pool day about half way through the trip. This way we didn’t have to bother with park crowds, or crazy dinner reservations and just relax by the pool. This worked perfectly into my plans since I needed a day to race around to some of the resorts for miscellaneous penny machines.

As my family got ready to head down to the pool I grabbed my coins and maps and headed down to the lobby area of our resort. In past trips I have used the Disney transportation buses to go from one resort to another. Unfortunately since they don’t go directly from resort to resort I would have to take the bus to a park then hop onto another bus back to whichever resort I needed to visit. This ends up being an all day adventure even if I only needed to visit a handful of resorts. This year I decided to rent a car to try to speed up the process. There is a Transportation Service Area on Disney property that has a couple of rental services. I had booked this prior to our trip, and scheduled a shuttle to pick me up at our records. After getting the rental car I was off to my first stop which were the All-Star Resorts.

I started with the All-Star Movies resort, and luckily these machine locations don’t seem to move so I knew exactly where to go. Straight through the lobby area and into the World Premier Food Court. I was visiting pretty early in the morning so this place was packed with guests loading up on breakfast. There was a wall of coin machines, but I only needed two of them.

The first machine has 3 penny designs. I had originally pressed these designs over 5 years ago and at that time had used really crappy pennies and always wanted to get nice new ones to update my collection. The designs were all of Tigger: Tigger in a Flower Patch, Tigger wearing a Mickey costume, and Tigger with some Honey Pots. The second machine had quarter designs: Lilo & Stitch, Mickey with a Video Camera, and Bambi Thumper and Flower.

I jumped back in my car and headed a short trip over to the All-Star Music Resort. These resorts all have very similar floor plans. The machine I needed was located outside the Note-Able Games Arcade which is across from their food court.

The machine I needed to use had 3 quarter designs: 2015 Daisy Duck, Stitch, and Mickey & Sulley from Monsters, Inc. Grabbing my coins I took another quick trip next door to the All-Star Sports Resort and headed to their Game Point Arcade. This is also located directly across from this resorts Food Court.

This machine also had 3 quarter designs: 2015 Donald Duck, Golfer Mickey, and Winnie the Pooh. With the All-Star Resorts done the next closes machine was at the Winter Summerland Mini-Golf course.

As I pressed the coins at this machine I was really tempted to play a round. But which such a busy schedule, and my family awaiting my return at the pool I had to walk away without playing. The machine had 3 penny designs: Ice Gator, Donald building a Sandcastle, and Mickey & Minnie on the beach. A short distance away was my next stop Fantasia Mini-Golf.

This machine is located in their small arcade near the check-in area for the mini-golf. The machine had 3 penny designs: Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey, Wicked Stepmother & stepsisters (Cinderella), and the White Rabbit from Alice In Wonderland. With my pockets jingling with change I walked back to my car and took a short break. My next stop wasn’t too far away and so far I had done a pretty good job of mapping out a path. Disney’s Boardwalk Resort is a beautiful place to visit and I hope to stay here sometime in the future. The only issue I have with visiting this resort is the guest parking lot is quite a hike from the Lobby. I guess I shouldn’t complain since it was a bright sunny day and I was getting plenty of exercise. Once inside the lobby the machines are kind of down a side hallway.

Machine 1 had 3 penny designs: Chip relaxing, Winnie the Pooh, and an Elephant squirting Donald. The second machine also had 3 penny designs: Mickey in a Tuxedo, Ariel, and Lilo. This is another resort I wish I had more time to really explore. They have a great boardwalk with little stores and places to eat. Coming from Jersey I know all about boardwalks, and this is really a fun place to just walk and enjoy the atmosphere.

Once back in the car I had to catch my breath from the long walk back to the parking lot. I put the AC on full blast and headed to my next destination and the one resort I had schedule extra time to check out the Art of Animation Resort. I’m going to post a whole entry just on my visit to this resort and it was really amazing all the detail Disney put into it. Considering it is a value resort I am definitely going to try to stay here on one of our next trips.

The machines are located in the Landscape of Flavors Food Court which is one of the largest and most unusual food courts I have seen on Disney property. This was another very busy place when I visited but at that time of day everyone was more interested in eating than pressing coins. I however headed right to the machines. It may just be me, but feel the designs these machines pressed were more detailed that I had seen at other resorts.

The first machine had 3 penny designs: Nemo, Lightning McQueen, and the Art of Animation Logo. The second machine also has 3 penny designs: Ariel, Simba and Mater. After pressing the coins I did spend about 45 minutes wandering around the resort taking a lot of pictures. As I mentioned above I’ll post separately about this but I will say this is definitely someplace you should check out.

I was coming into the home stretch with just a few more places to visit. Connected to the Art of Animation Resort is the Pop Century Resort and I was able to access this just by driving around the perimeter of the parking lot.

Inside the resort just past the lobby is the Everything POP Shopping & Dining area. You first walk into the gift shop, and can continue through to the food court area. The machines are located just as you walk into the dining area.

Both machines were working perfectly and I was able to help a nice family use the machines first and then I was able to press my coins afterwards. Machine 1 included the following: Mickey with a Yo-Yo, Lady & the Tramp, and 5 Princesses (Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty & Jasmine). Machine 2 had: Mickey & Minnie Dancing, Kaa from The Jungle Book, and Bagheera also from The Jungle Book.

By this time my stomach was starting to growl which was perfect timing because the next resort has one of my all time favorite snacks. I drove over to the Port Orleans Riverside resort first to use the machine in the lobby just outside of Fulton’s General Store (FYI there is a machine inside the store).

The machine had a nice bright white cabinet that really stood out and made finding it very easy. I pressed the 3 designs available: Grumpy, Space Mickey, and the Wicket Queen from Snow White. Unfortunately the snack I was looking forward to was located at the Port Orleans French Quarter resort so I had a short drive between resorts. Then once inside I headed right to the food court and ordered some Beignets. These are basically just donuts with powdered sugar but when you get them fresh out of the fryer they are really amazing.

I probably should be embarrassed to admit this but I finished off a small order all by myself. Then I went back and ordered a couple extra orders to take back with me for my family. Once they read this my dirty little secret will be out. But they were oh so good, and I skipped breakfast that morning so my conscience was clear.

After using about 150 napkins to clean off the powdered sugar from my shirt and pants I headed back to the car with my precious package of additional Beignets and headed to the last resort on my list. I drove into the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and headed into the lobby (Reception Outpost is the technical name) and found the machine in the back corner.

This machine has 3 Monsters, Inc penny designs: Waternoose, Celia, and Boo in her Monster Costume. After leaving the outpost I walked over to the bus stop. For those of you that don’t know or haven’t visited the campgrounds, since this property is so large Fort Wilderness has its own internal bus routes. In a past visit I rented a golf cart and drove around but that was a little more than I wanted to spend for a quick trip to use just one more penny machine. Instead I waited for the first bus that arrived and hopped on. After about a 10 minute ride I was dropped off near Pioneer Hall. I walked past the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, Trail’s End Restaurant and finally over to the Settlement Trading Post. The machine is located right outside the main door.

This machine originally was located in Hollywood Studios at the Prop Shop, but had been moved here about a year ago. It had 3 classic designs: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy.

I had done it. 8 resorts and 2 mini-golf courses visited and the required coins collected all in one morning. It was just past noon by the time I dropped the car back off at the rental place and got a quick shuttle ride back to our resort. I ran up to our room, off loaded all the coins and Beignets in the room, changed into my swim shorts and headed down to join my family at the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

That evening we had dinner at the California Grill located on the very top floor of the Contemporary Resort for a really amazing dinner. I had the Oak-fired Filet of Beef that was truly melt in your mouth.

Since we had the kids with us we didn’t book our reservation in time to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks. However, we were informed that we could come back and watch the fireworks from the California Grills observation decks. When it came time to go back and watch the show most of our family was exhausted and decided to stay in our room, but my father accompanied me up to the room to check them out. The resort even pipes in the music that goes along with the fireworks just as it does in the park.

Another great ending to a busy but very memorable day.

WDW Trip Day 4 – Animal Kingdom

May 15, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

This was the half way point through our trip. Not only were we going to check out Animal Kingdom it was also our nephews 1st birthday. What a lucky little guy to have his first birthday celebrated in Disney.

But before I get to his special birthday dinner let me take you through our day in Animal Kingdom. This park does have quite a few penny machines, but they don’t see to change too often which made for an easy day on my end as there were only a hand full of machines I needed to visit.

Unfortunately this was one of the parks that we had to take the Disney Transportation Bus to, the ride wasn’t too long but getting everyone board and trying to maneuver 2 strollers was not a great experience. Upon arriving I ran over to guest services and got our nephew a birthday pin which was really fun to see the cast members throughout the day wishing him a happy birthday. Next we headed up towards the tree of life and took a nice family picture in front of the tree. Next we were headed towards Dinoland U.S.A. Along the way I stopped into the Disney Outfitters shop and used one of the machines located here.

Another great thing about the machines in Animal Kingdom is they have really unique cabinets with a lot of detail. This machine has 3 designs: Randall, Duffy and John Smith. I quickly caught up to my group and we entered into Dinoland. This place has a lot of great things for the kids to explore and ride. Our kids were immediately drawn to the Tricera Top Spin. This is almost identical to the famous Dumbo ride in the Magic Kingdom but with dinosaurs instead of the famous elephant.

My wife took Hanna, my sister and brother-in-law took our niece Ava and headed in line. I wanted to use the camcorder to film them so I sat this ride out. There was about at 10 minute wait to get on so I took this opportunity to check out the next closes penny machine which was located in Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures.

There were a couple of kids in front of me trying to figure out how to use the machine. They didn’t speak English which would have made helping a little easier, but I managed to walk them through the process by pressing my coins. They saw the finished product and were so excited they ran off to get more change from their parents. The machines 3 designs were: 2015 Nemo, Iguanodon, and a Carnotaurus. (Thank you presscoins.com I wouldn’t have guessed those dinosaur names if my life depending on it) With my new coins in hand I walked out of the store and stood by my father just as our kids were getting on the Tricera Top ride.

After that we checked our The Boneyard which was a big playground area with all sorts of slides, cargo nets, ramps, bridges and more. We spent quite a bit of time here and had to drag the kids out kick and screaming but we had so much more to do.

We headed towards Expedition Everest and was surprised to find out my sister and brother-in-law weren’t going to ride it. The wait was over an hour so I couldn’t completely blame them. As we passed by I ran inside the gift shop called Serka Zong Bazaar to use the machine.

Sorry for the dark picture there just wasn’t much light inside the gift shop. There were 3 designs: The Yeti, Mickey with the Yeti, and the Expedition Everest logo. By this time it wasn’t quite noon but we were all getting hungry and decided it would be a good time to stop for some lunch. I knew that nearby was a great restaurant that I had visited only once before but knew it had some great food. The dilemma was that we didn’t want to fill up too much because we had a big special dinner later on. The Yak & Yeti restaurant was where we stopped in for a light lunch and it appeared they were just opening as no one was in there. While we waited for our table I used the machine located right inside by the hostess desk.

This was a 4 design hand crank machine. I pressed the coins and we were taken to our table. The food is Asian inspired and worked out well for our light lunch. After finishing up we headed outside and made our way to the Harambe Train Station. Now in the past I have always referred to this as the train to nowhere. It does actually go to Rafiki’s Planet Watch but to be honest as an adult I never found this place very interesting. Usually we would just use the restrooms, get an ice cream and would jump on the train to immediately take us back. This time however ended up being a little different. While we waited for the train to arrive my little penny collectors made me so proud they asked to use the machine without my prompting.

I gave them some extra coins I had brought and they pressed their own coins. They also helped me press my own set and did a great job.

I only needed to use the quarter designs. There were 3 in total: 2015 Pluto, Simba & Nala, and Shere Kahn. After taking the short train ride we exited and headed up towards to big building. But we decided to let the kids try out the petting zoo which was officially called the Affection Station. This was one of the biggest hits we had all week with the kids.

There were pigs, goats, sheet, and horses all available for petting or brushing if you were able to find one lying around. This was another place that we spent quite a bit of time in and the kids just didn’t want to leave. Eventually we were able to convince the kids we had to move on, and we headed back to the train for another quick ride back to where we had started. At this time we had our one Fastpass to do which was for the Kilimanjaro Safari which the kids enjoyed looking for all the animals along the jeep ride.

With the safari over we were all pretty beat and ready to head back to the resort for a rest. I still have 2 more machines to visit but luckily they were on our way out and I quickly used them while my family continued on.

First was the machine at Duku La Filimu with 3 designs: Tarzan & Jane, Safari Pooh, and Rafiki. The last machine was located in the Island Mercantile also with 3 designs: Festival of the Lion King logo, Kristoff & Sven from Frozen, and Tigger bouncing on his tail. With these final machines collected I met up with my family and we headed back to our resort by bus.

After a few hours of resting we jumped on the monorail over to the Polynesian Village where we were having the special birthday dinner at O’Hana. This place is awesome. We usually try to eat here every time we visit Walt Disney World as it’s just a wonderful experience with great food.

We started with the sweet Hawaiian bread, salad, noodles and the pot stickers (I could have just eaten those). Everything was all you can eat and as soon as the plate was empty we were quickly given another one to work on. Then the main course starts to arrive with was chicken, and steak cooked on large skewers over an open fire. There were some other meats that came around but I was in such a food coma I don’t even remember what they were. About 2 weeks before our vacation I called Disney’s Cake service and requested a special birthday cake for this dinner. Unfortunately there was a little mix up and the cake wasn’t available. But the chef personally came out to explain the situation to me, and let me know they were making a cake immediately and would be on the house. I was a little disappointed we wouldn’t be getting the Mickey shaped cake I had originally ordered but appreciated everything the staff did to help make sure we still had something special for our nephew.

As you can see in the above picture the came still was very impressive, and tasted really great. We had 9 people in our party, but we barely put a dent into it. They did wrap up the leftovers and we ended up indulging in cake the rest of our trip. Thankfully our resort room had a full size fridge to accommodate this cake.

We sang Happy Birthday with the help of the entire restaurant and Luke immediately dove into his piece. This really was a special day for him and our entire family and were so glad it happened at the Happiest Place on Earth.

WDW Trip Day 3 – Epcot

May 8, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

Another beautiful day greeted us in Orlando and for our second full day we were headed to Epcot. But first we took the elevator from our room down to the 4th floor concourse to have breakfast at Chef Mickey’s.

This is one of those location that is a must do at least once. It’s a character meal and we obviously opted for the breakfast buffet that consists of pretty standard Disney items. The main reason to visit is an up close and personal visit with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. We met each one in turn and they never rushed to the next table. We got lots of great pictures and asked for each of their autographs to continue filling up our books. Above is a picture of my niece Ava with Minnie Mouse.

With breakfast done we jumped on the monorail and headed to the ticket and transportation center where we had to get off one train, walk down a ramp, then up another ramp to an adjacent monorail that would take us over to Epcot. It seems like it took a long time, but in reality was only about 15 minutes before we were wandering up to the giant golf ball…uh sorry Spaceship Earth.

We had a Fastpass coming up for Spaceship Earth but did have a little time to waste. So we didn’t want to wander too far and chose to wander around Innoventions East. There were some interesting exhibits that the kids loved playing with. I slowly made by way around to the far side of the building where the two penny machines were located. The first machine was located by the Video Playground, and the second was near the exit across from the Great Piggy Bank adventure.

Both machines were hand crank models with 4 designs each. Machine #1 had: Phineas and Ferb, Spaceship Earth with Goofy outside, Agent P, and Duffy the bear. Machine #2 included: Mickey’s face, Phineas and Ferb, Figment and Agent P. Our Fastpass time had started so walked back to Spaceship Earth and got on with very little wait (Thank you again Fastpass).

After that we headed over towards Soarin’ but already it had over an hour wait. Since we already had a Fastpass schedule for Test Track later in the day we weren’t allowed to have one for Soarin’ at the same time. Instead we checked out the Livings Seas to ride Nemo & Friends. This is an interesting ride that takes you through the large aquarium but projects the Nemo characters in a way that they seem to actually be swimming in the tanks with all the real aquatic creatures. Once the ride was over in classic Disney strategy we exited through the gift shop which worked in my favor since there were two more machines located here.

First was a 4 design penny machine with: Mickey in a scuba suit, the Seagulls (“Mine, Mine, Mine”), Crush the turtle, and Nemo, Dory & Marlin. The second machine had 3 designs all on quarters: Nemo, Dory and Crush.

At this time we just started wondering around. We were saving the World Showcase for later that night so we were avoiding that area for now. Our kids came across a playground area with some topiary that looked like the Monsters, Inc characters Mike and Sully. Knowing this would keep them busy for a while I quickly headed over to use some other machines. On the far side of the dancing fountain behind Spaceship Earth is the Mouse Gears store. Inside were 2 machines I was interested in.

Both machines were working perfectly and I quickly pressed my sets. The first machine had 3 designs: Mickey and Spaceship Earth, Anna from Frozen, and 2015 Donald Duck. The second machine also had 3 designs: Mickey with his Passport, Spaceship Earth, and Kristoff from Frozen. With two more machines successfully collected I received a text message from my family that they were heading towards Test Track since our Fastpass time was ready. We had intended to bring my daughter Hanna and niece Ava on but unfortunately they were about 1 inch too short. Grandma decided to stay with the kids while we went on the ride. It had been a few years since I was last on it and the inside had changed a little bit, but I always love when you head outside onto the track for a quick race around the building with the wind whipping through your hair. Once the ride was over we were taken through the gift shop and right before the exit doors was the penny machine.

I always like the cool blue color of this machine’s cabinet. There were 3 designs: Mickey with Test Track shirt, Mickey in Test Track car, and Goofy sitting by a caution cone. We were approaching lunch time and decided to head to the closes pavilion which was Mexico. They have a great outdoor quick service restaurant called La Hacienda. After indulging in a few margaritas and some tacos, Hanna was getting a little fussy due to complete exhaustion. While my family finished eating their lunch I took her for a quick walk inside the Mexican pavilion to look around. Near the central marketplace inside is the penny machine. Hanna helped me press the coins but I could tell she was even too tired to do this.

Another 3 design machine with the following: Mickey wearing a Sombrero, Duffy wearing a poncho, and Mickey in front of the Mexican pavilion. I walked Hanna back outside and met up with our family. They were ready to head back to our resort for an afternoon nap before coming back for dinner.

A few hours later we were back in Epcot and headed over to The Land where Soarin’ if located. The stand-by line was still crazy (over 2 hours) but we were actually there to try the Garden Grill for dinner which is a revolving restaurant. After we checked in for our reservation we still had to wait a few minutes for them to get our table together. In the large waiting area were the 3 penny machines I had waited all day for.

Machines 1 and 2 shared the same large cabinet. First was the penny machine with 3 designs: Belle, Doc and Chip & Dale. The quarter machine also had 3 designs: 2015 Nemo, Merida from Brave, and Mickey riding Soarin’. The third machine was a hand crank version with 4 designs: Gardener Mickey, Farmer Donald, Garden Grill Restaurant Logo, and Soarin’ Logo.

The food was pretty good. It’s a family style restaurant with all you can eat portions. You get a big plate of mashed potatoes, turkey, steak and fish. Then once finish off the plate they bring you another one, and another, until you have had enough. While stuffing ourselves with the food we got to meet some characters that stopped by to say hi. There was Chip and Dale, Farmer Mickey, and Pluto.

After dessert we rolled ourselves outside and were grateful to have the long walk around the World Showcase next on our list. As we made our way towards the World pavilions I first stopped in to the Disney Traders and next door neighbor the Port of Entry store to use the machines.

The Disney Traders machine had the following designs: Olaf from Frozen, Mickey with the Epcot Logo, and Mickey Goofy & Donald holding a globe. The Port of Entry machine also had 3 designs: Mickey with a suitcase, Uncle Sam Mickey, and Duffy wearing a Chinese outfit.

Now we were ready for the world pavilions. Being originally from Canada this is of course where we decided to start. Since we had a lot of places to visit we didn’t stay to long in any of them, mostly just going into each gift shop and looking and what they had to offer. Lucky for me this is also where all the penny machines are located.

The machine in Canada had designs of: Mickey wearing a Mountie hat, Canada Pavilion, and Duffy wearing a Canadian outfit. Next up was the United Kingdom, this machine had the following: Mickey with Big Ben, United Kingdom Pavilion, and Duffy wearing a kilt and hat.

My family continued towards the France pavilion but I quickly stopped over at the International Gateway which is a back entrance to Epcot and will take you to the Boardwalk Resort and Yacht and Beach club if you don’t mind walking or waiting for a boat. There are some great places and things to do over there if you ever need a break from Epcot.

This machine had a unique cabinet to it that I don’t remember seeing before. The designs were: Mulan, Mickey at the China Pavilion, and Elsa from Frozen. With this machine completed I quickly ran to catch up with everyone at the France pavilion. They were checking out the decadent desserts available in the patisserie. I wandered over to the penny machine and pressed another set.

This is another very unique machine. As you can see from the picture there are only 2 designs pictured on the marquee, Mickey by the Eiffel Tower, and the France Pavilion. However for those in the know, there is actually a third design available. The only way to get it is to play the Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure. There is a little phone type unit you obtain clues so you can catch the evil Doofenshmirtz. The clues are completely random, but one you can obtain is if the game takes you to the France pavilion and you place the phone device up to the penny machine. No coin is required as the machine will automatically start pressing a secret design for you. Yes this coin will give you assistance with your clues, but for pressed coin collectors this is a very cool collectible. I have managed get a couple in previous visits, but didn’t have time this trip to play the game for a shot at another one.

Next up was Japan. There are two pretty new machines at this location. One is located right outside the gift shop, and the other is by the stairs that lead up to the Katsura Grill.

Both machines need your manual strength to press, but will give you 4 designs each. The first machines has: Mickey in Japan, Minnie with a Tiara, Duffy wearing a Kimono, and Mickey & Minnie kissing. The second machine has: Minnie wearing a Kimono, Mickey wearing a Kimono, Mickey in a Samurai outfit, and Daisy with a Japanese hand fan.

Our next stop was the American Adventure, by this time unfortunately everyone was starting to get tired and were looking forward to heading back to the hotel for the evening. So as they kept walking I quickly ran into the Heritage Manor Gift shop and pressed the coins.

This machine actually had quite the line I had to wait in. Luckily everyone ahead of me seemed to only be pressing one design each so I pressed my coins after only a few minutes waiting. The machine had 3 designs: Patriotic Mickey, Mickey with a Baseball cap, and Baseball player Duffy. Next up was Germany and the Der Teddybar Toy Shop (I think I spelled that correctly).

I almost missed this machine. Usually they are located right near a doorway, but this was in the middle of the store. Thankfully a nice cast member helped point me in the right direction. Three designs were: Mickey wearing a hat with a feather, German Pavilion, and Duffy wearing a German outfit.

Only one more pavilion to go and it was Norway. This one my family did actually take some time to explore. We used to love the Maelstrom ride that was here but it has recently been closed down to make way for a new Frozen ride. We took the kids in to the gift shop to see the huge troll and take their picture with it. I don’t think they like the troll too much but it made for a funny picture.

The machine was located right inside the main door to the shop and my niece Ava helped me press the coins. This may be just wishful thinking but I think she was getting the hang of the machines. I had decided to bring a lot of extra change so help get her collection started and she liked picking out the different designs and helped find some of the machines.

I thought these may be all Frozen designs by now, but only one had changed. The designs included: Mickey wearing a Viking hat, the Norway Pavilion, and Anna & Elsa from Frozen.

It had been a long day and we managed to visit every pavilion and do almost everything we wanted to at Epcot. It would have been nice to go on Soarin’ but since it is one of the most popular rides in Epcot we just couldn’t justify the 120 minute standby time. Maybe next time. We headed back out to the monorail and made our way back to the resort to relax for the rest of the evening.

At the end of each night I always tried to catalog the coins I had collected and information on the machines just to keep things organized and a little easier to manage when we got back home. But this night I was completely exhausted and went to bed early. Tomorrow was another busy day with plenty of coins to collect.

WDW Trip Day 2 – Magic Kingdom

May 1, 2015August 8, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

For our first full day in Orlando we were headed to the Magic Kingdom. We had a character breakfast scheduled at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and his friends. However we got to the park earlier than expected (thank you Monorail), and my sister and brother-in-law wanted to hit up Space Mountain. After getting through security and using our MagicBands to enter we were immediately greeted at the town square by Pluto and Minnie Mouse. Unfortunately the line for Minnie Mouse was huge so we wait for Pluto.

While my family waited for Pluto I quickly ran into the Main Street Train Station to use the two machines located inside. They are located on the street level behind the stairs to go up to the platform.

The penny machine I had already acquired the designs and just need a picture of the machine. The quarter machine did have one of the new 2015 designs with Cinderella’s Castle. I pressed this coin and made my way back over to Pluto just in time for my daughter to meet him and get his autograph.

After Pluto my family started heading up Main Street and I quickly headed over to the Main Street Firehouse and got an updated picture of the machine that was put back on display here. It has been there a few years ago during my last visit but had been taken away for some reason.

This machine has 3 designs each with different Dalmatians from what else the Disney classic 101 Dalmatians. I already had these designs but pressed new ones since my originals were on old dirty coins before I was a little more picky about what I used.

I walked quickly to catch up with my family just in time to take a picture of all of us in front of Cinderella’s castle. Then we headed into Tomorrowland and up to Space Mountain. My wife and I are not big ride people so my sister and brother-in-law went ahead by themselves. My parents were watching the kids plan with a cast member shooting bubbles into the air and this was keeping them quite entertained. I headed into the Space Mountain gift shop for the next machine on my list.

There are actually 3 machines located inside this store and one of them actually presses dimes which is unique. Two of the machines hadn’t changed so I only need the quarter machine. The 3 designs are all Space Mountain themed and look really great on the larger size quarters. Next I headed across the courtyard to Mickey’s Star Trader.

This was another quarter machine with 3 designs. The designs included 2 Tomorrowland images and one of Zurg from Toy Story. I crossed through this store and out the back towards the Indy Speedway where another machine was close by.

Unlike most of the machines in WDW that are electric and just require your money and the press of a button this was a hand crank machine with 4 designs. These designs were also very detailed and included racing themes with Goofy, Mickey, Minnie and the Indy Speedway logo. Hoping my family wasn’t waiting around for me I quickly headed back towards Space Mountain but found the kids were still playing with the bubbles and my sister was just exiting the ride. They took a picture on their phone of their official Space Mountain photo and after we laughed for a good couple of minutes we figured it was time to head back for our Breakfast reservation.

The Crystal Palace is a pretty standard breakfast buffet with the usual Mickey waffles, scrambled eggs, omelet station, etc. But who are we kidding we were really there to see Pooh and his Friends.

During the course of our breakfast we met Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. Their interaction with the kids was really great and we were able to get some fantastic pictures. Now that we had filled up our gas tanks we were ready to start exploring the rest of the park.

We started in Adventureland and jumped on the Jungle Cruise. With the Jungle Cruise successfully completed I crossed the path to the restroom area know as the Verandah Breezeway. There is a machine over here that was calling my name.

The machine had a new Frozen design that I already had collected but needed an updated picture for my files. The designs include the Adventureland logo, Olaf from Frozen, and the Jungle Cruise boat.

After that we headed towards Aladdin’s magic carpet ride. My family waited inline for the ride and just as they got on and started flying an announcement was made that they were coming down for some reason. Not sure if the ride malfunctioned or not, but they were escorted towards the exit but asked not to leave they would be put back on in a few minutes. I took this opportunity to cut through a pathway over to Frontierland where the Shooting Arcade was located. I used to love this as a kid and remember my grandfather pumping quarters into it for me. There are two machines located here.

The first machine had classic face designs of Mickey, Donald and Goofy. The second machine has Cowboy Mickey, Woody from Toy Story, and Cowboy Donald. I headed back towards the Aladdin ride and found my family still waiting to get back on the ride. I took this opportunity to check out something I had been told about but in all my visits never tried yet. Dole Whip! All I have to say is WOW, I don’t know how I ever missed this before.

From my understanding Dole Whip is a non-dairy ice cream like concoction. The original flavor was Pineapple, but I believe you can now get orange. I didn’t even bother with the other flavor as I was hooked on the pineapple. I started with just Dole Whip in a cup, but upon later visits back to this stand I tried the float which was even better. They fill a larger cup half way with pineapple juice and then pour in the Dole Whip. Truly amazing I even found a Dole Whip air freshener for my car in a gift shop, it’s not quite the same but as close as I can get in Jersey. The only thing is that you can only get these a couple of places through the entire resort. This one in Magic Kingdom, at the Polynesian Resort, and at Tamu Tamu in Animal Kingdom.

With Dole Whip in hand I watched my family ride the magic carpets without any issue and as soon as they got off it was time to use up our first Fastpass for Pirates of the Caribbean. After that we made our way quickly over towards Cinderella’s Castle and over to the new Fantasyland. We had a dining reservation for lunch at the popular Be Our Guest restaurant in Beast’s Castle. The restaurant was really beautiful to look at and was fun to sit and eat inside. The food was also very good,

Above is the famous Rose from the movie Beauty and the Best with falling petals and all. After lunch we headed towards the Big Top Circus area so the kids could check out the Dumbo ride. Unfortunately Hanna was getting tired and was getting cranky. While my brother-in-law look my niece on Dumbo I took Hanna in the stroller for a walk to try to see if she would fall asleep for a nap. We headed into the Big Top Souvenirs tent and I found the next machine on my list.

This machine was another 4 design hand crank model. The four designs are all circus related with the usual Disney character. Strongman Donald, Trapeze Minnie, the Great Goofini, and Ringmaster Mickey. After leaving the tent Hanna was still on the cusp of going to sleep so I look her for a stroll back towards Cinderella’s castle to check out some other machines.

First we went into Sir Mickey’s which is a narrow little store that has the usual gifts and things to buy. The machine was located right near one of the check out counters so it was a little crowded to try to use.

The machine has 3 penny designs. 2015 Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey, Snow White, and Elsa from Frozen. We walked across the crowded walkway to the adjacent store called Castle Couture for another machine.

Another 3 penny designs included: Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and Rapunzel from Tangled. With these coins pressed I checked Hanna and she was fast asleep. I headed back over towards the Big Top Circus and the rest of my family was watching my niece Ava ride on Dumbo.

After she got off my family had decided they wanted to head back to the resort for a rest before coming back for dinner later on that evening. My wife and I decided to stick around the park for a little while longer and my parents were happy to watch a soundly sleeping Hanna until we got back to the resort.

There were a few rides we did want to check out along with some more machines I needed to visit. As we separated from the rest of our group we headed to the Flight of Peter Pan ride which we had another Fastpass for and got on with almost no wait at all. After that we headed towards the Haunted Mansion another favorite of ours but the standby wait time was over 50 minutes so we skipped it but did find the new penny machine.

This machine was located just a little past the Riverboat station outside the Haunted Mansion. It had four designs that included the hitchhiking ghosts. Do you know their names? Ezra, Phineas and Gus (I had to look these up), the fourth design is of Mickey, Donald and Goofy dressed like the hitchhiking ghosts.

This next machine was also new and I didn’t know exactly where it was located and took a little wandering to find it. Close to Heritage House there is a back alley type of area near the Fastpass kiosk is where this machine located.

One nice thing about this location is there was no one around and plenty of space to spread out and press my coins. There were 3 designs: Liberty Square Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, and Patriot Mickey. By this time we noticed the scotch tape being placed along the walkways and knew a parade was about to begin. We cut along the river area and headed towards Big Thunder Mountain. This is a ride I actually don’t mind but with no Fastpass the standby line was over 100 minutes and we just didn’t want to wait. Near the exit to the Huck Finn Raft launch was a 4 design hand crank penny machine.

The designs were: Cowgirl Daisy, Cowgirl Minnie, Cowboy Donald and Cowboy Mickey. Next up was Splash Mountain. I was forced to ride this as a child with my sister who loves these types of rides but my wife wasn’t too keen on it so we just stood and watch people come down the big drop. We then walked back behind Splash Mountain past the Frontierland Railroad Station to a gift shop that has 2 machines. One located near the restrooms and the other further back by the Splash Mountain Photo Preview area.

Most of the designs are Splash Mountain themed which is cool. The first machine has: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, 2015 Chip & Dale, and Splash Mountain logo. The second machine included: Mickey and friends riding Splash Mountain, Mickey and Minnie splashing water, and Brer Rabbit and friends on Splash Mountain.

By this time we were getting a little tired ourselves and wanted to make sure we had enough time to get back to our resort and rest before heading back into the park to eat. We headed back towards Main Street and towards the exit. Just after exiting the park there is a Newsstand that had a penny machine.

When we first entered the park I tried to use this machine but it was being worked on by a cast member. Luckily when we were leaving it was working perfectly. The designs are: Cinderella, Tinker Bell and Peter Pan. With those coins in hand we then grabbed the monorail one stop to our resort and joins our family for some much needed down time.

A couple of hours later the kids were all awake and ready to go. We headed back on the monorail into the Magic Kingdom and didn’t have far to go. Our diner reservations were at Tony’s Town Square which is an Italian restaurant themed after Tony from Lady and the Tramp. This place was packed, and even through we had a reservation still needed to wait about 10 minutes or so, which seems so much longer when you have antsy kids and an empty stomach. I walked Hanna over hear the restrooms where the restaurant had a machine.

Hanna helped me press the pennies which included: Lady, Tramp, and the whole Lady & the Tramp gang. We were then seated shortly after and enjoyed our meal. Our service was a little slow but I just attributed that to the place being really busy. Most of my family had the chicken Parmesan which was really tasty, and my wife tried a flatbread pizza which she also really enjoyed.

After diner my sister and brother-in-law were ready to check out the park but the kids seems like they wanted to head back to our room. My parents offered to take them back and watch them until it was bed time. We thanked them and were off to check out the Haunted Mansion. This ended up being a great time to go on as the wait was posted as being only 10 minutes.

After the Haunted Mansion we went towards Splash Mountain. My brother-in-law was taking my sister on who seemed a little apprehensive in her old age (thanks Karma). They had a Fastpass but it wasn’t available for another hour so they decided to wait for Big Thunder Mountain which was about a 40 minute wait. They said they would text us when they were on Splash Mountain so we could head to the bridge and watch them plummet over the falls.

I took my wife’s hand and lead her towards the Frontierland Shooting Arcade but cut through to the Dole Whip sand. She got just the Dole whip cup while I got the float. We sat right along the shooting arcade and just watched everything going on around us while we enjoyed our tasty new treat. My phone eventually buzzed letting us know they were on Splash Mountain so we headed over to watch. Their official picture was another great source of amusement.

By this time is was getting late and we figured we should probably head back. As we walked along Main Street we headed into the Emporium to check out some souvenirs. There are 3 machines in the Emporium but I only needed 2 of them.

The first machine worked perfectly and had designs of Mickey with a Bow Tie, Cinderella’s Castle, and Minnie Mouse. Unfortunately the second machine was Out of Order. The designs included 2015 Cinderella’s Castle, Let the Memories Begin, and Anna & Elsa from Frozen. In my previous post I mentioned new plaques on some of the machines saying you could text about out-of-order machines. So I sent the text and received a quick confirmation back. I wasn’t going to wait around, but we did have our schedule set to come back into the Magic Kingdom on our last day before heading home. I was able to get these coins during that trip.

We paid for a few souvenirs and then headed back to our room for some much needed sleep. It had been a busy day and I was able to visiting all the machines I needed to. With only one machine not available I was pretty happy with the outcome.

WDW Trip Day 1 – Travel Day

April 29, 2015April 29, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

My family vacation to Walt Disney World has come and gone, and have suffered from the post-Disney blues as I tried to get acclimated back to my normal life. Our trip was truly amazing and once back home I had quite a task of trying to organize over 2000 pictures and 6 hours of video between all my family members. Not to mention I also had some new pressed coins to catalog and display.

Over the next few posts I’m going to detail out each day of our trip and will primarily focus on the pressed coin machines I visited but will also insert some anecdotes about things we encountered along the way. Just as a heads up Dole Whip is my new obsession, if you haven’t tried it you MUST. But I’ll get into that .

Day 1 started with a 5 am wake up time (to be honest I didn’t sleep much the night before so I was already kind of up). With our bags packed we carpooled with my parents over to the airport where we met up with my sister and her family. Our flight left around 7:30 am and about 2 hours later we touched down in Orlando. The glorious Florida heat was a welcome sensation from the cold weather we have had in the Northeast.

Disney makes it really easy to with airport system in Orlando. We had special tags for our luggage so we didn’t have to pick them up and instead they were automatically transported to our resort later that day. Following the signs in the airport we made our way to the Magical Express which are nice air-conditioned buses that transport you from the airport to your resort. It took about 30 minutes or so but we finally saw the magical road sign we had been waiting for.

There were a few stops ahead of ours but eventually we arrived at the Contemporary Resort. Of course the always entertaining and never gets old part of this resort is the monorail that runs directly through it.

After the Magical express dropped us off we were immediately greeted by a cast member. Unfortunately since we had arrived early our room wasn’t ready yet. We decided to head in anyways and get an early lunch at the Contempo Cafe. This is a quick service type eatery, the system is pretty cool. You first walk up to a kiosk with a touch screen system and select your order, then a receipt is printed out. You can then pick up desserts from the display case, drinks and other snacks then when ready you head to the checkout lanes to pay. With the new MagicBands we all had on these are also a great new technology. Not only were these bands our park tickets, but they also opened our resort room, had our Fast passes and most dangerous of all you can pay for things with them. My dad was anxious to try his out so he used it to pay for our lunch and it worked like a charm.

The lunch was must better than I had anticipated as a quick service location. We tried burgers, salads and a flatbread pizza kind of thing that were all ready tasty and filling. When I had walked by the desert case I couldn’t resist getting a Frozen (not literally) cupcake. The exact Disney description was as follows “Chocolate Cake infused with Caramel and topped with Swirled Butter Cream and a Non edible Souvenir Ring”. How could this not be good.

Our room wasn’t going to be ready for a couple of hours so we decided to grab one of the Disney Transportation Buses and head to Downtown Disney for some shopping and a special reservation we had made for my niece Ava.

Downtown Disney has been going through some changes recently and some areas were blocked off for construction. Enjoying the wonderful weather we headed directly to the West Side where the Cirque du Soleil La Nouba stadium was located so we could work our way back.

Another reason for doing this is I had news that there was a penny machine in the La Nouba gift shop. We walked and to check out the souvenirs but after pacing the entire store I asked the cashier about the machine. Unfortunately I was informed that the machine hadn’t been working properly and had been removed for repairs. So far I was zero for one on penny machines, hopefully this wasn’t a sign of things to come.

We headed back towards the Marketplace where the bus had let us off and I went into another store called Marketplace Fun Finds. This little shop has all sorts of fun little souvenirs and mystery grab bags. I had already received these coins from a contact of mine weeks before but wanted to get a picture of the machine for my records.

I did cave in and pressed another set (you can never have too many). The machine worked great and pressed all four designs nicely. The designs included Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. I posted a picture of these pennies in a previous post.

After leaving the store I noticed it was time for our reservation at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for Ava’s Princess Makeover. The boutique was located inside the World of Disney store which is the biggest Disney gift shop I have ever seen. The makeover took about 35 minutes or so. They really do a nice job creating that magical experience. I don’t know if Ava loved all the work on her hair, but it came out really cute.

By this time we were started to get a little sluggish from the early morning start. My dad received an email and text message on his cell phone letting us know our room was ready. With the online check-in we had done before arriving the message also listed our room number so we could head right up without needing to wait at the front desk. We grabbed the next bus and headed to our resort in anticipation of checking out our room. Did you notice I said room (singular). That’s right we had decided to all stay together. There was 9 of us in total, but the Contemporary Resort offered some nice family suites up on the 14th floor which is what we had opted for, and ended up working out really well. Upon entering our room there was a large living room, with a dining area and kitchen. There were two bedrooms, one to the left and one to the right. Each room had its own full bathroom which made getting ready each morning much easier. We had 4 balconies in total and we were facing Bay Lake which gave a great view of Epcot and could watch the fireworks right from our room.

Everyone was pretty tired and ready to just relax. We didn’t have any plans that evening but did have an early start the next day. I decided to take this opportunity and jump on the monorail to get some coins from the neighboring resorts.

First I needed to check out the penny machines in our own resort. The machines are nicely located right beside the escalator that leads up to the monorail platform. The Contemporary Resort has one of the largest banks of machines all in one place that are all connected in one cabinet. These machines are almost always busy. There is a total of 6 machines, but I only used 3 of them. I did watch other people use the remaining machines and they all appears to be working without any issue.

The first penny machine had a Chef Mickey design that was first made available in 2013. I pressed the design and moved on to the next machine which were Quarters. This was the first of the new 2015 designs I was pressing myself. I already had a full set at home but couldn’t resist pressing my own set. The quarter design is of Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey with 2015 in the background. The third machine had another 2015 penny with Tinker Bell in the design.

One thing you may notice in the above pictures which was something I hadn’t seen on my previous trips was the plaque on each machine. Here’s a close up of it:

If you come across a machine that isn’t working you can send a text message to this number and let them know. I don’t know what the average time would be and don’t believe it would be while you waited at the machine. But I really think this is a great way to help keep the machines in working order. Another great tool for anyone before or during your visits is the website listed. This will contain maps of each park including the resorts and will show you exactly where each machine is located and what designs are available there.

I jumped on the monorail and headed to the next resort which was the Polynesian Village. There were 3 machines located here. One machine is located on the first floor outside Wyland Galleries, and the other two machines are side by side on the second floor outside Samoa Snacks.

These designs haven’t changed since the last time I was here. I knew this ahead of time but always love just walking around this resort and took the opportunity to update the pictures of the machines. The machine on the first floor has 3 penny designs: Sneezy, Buzz Lightyear, and Scar with the 3 hyenas. The second machine upstairs also has 3 penny designs: Pocahontas & John Smith, Pocahontas kneeling, and Bruce the Shark from Finding Nemo. The last machine had one quarter design: Lilo doing a hula dance.

My next stop was the Grand Floridan Resort & Spa. This is another beautiful resort and I spent some time just walking around and taking it all in. This resort has 4 machines but I only used 2 of them. The one I didn’t go see is located out by the bus stop area. I have collected these designs in the past, and was starting to get tired myself so I decided to skipped this one. The first of the machines I did check out was on the second floor right inside the doors from the monorail platform. The other two machines were on the first floor outside the 1900 Park Fare restaurant.

The first machine by the monorail had another 2015 penny design with Goofy as the main attraction. The last two machines I only pressed the quarter designs. I previously had these quarters but the coins I had used back in 2010 were pretty beat up and I wanted to get nice new ones. There were 3 designs: Mickey Donald & Goofy, Mulan & Mushu, and Pumba & Simba. The other penny machine located here didn’t have any new designs so I didn’t bother using the machine.

Satisfied with my first days collection of new coins and updated machine pictures I headed upstairs and back onto the monorail. While on the monorail I had to go through the Magic Kingdom station before heading back to the Contemporary. Luckily after leaving the Magic Kingdom station I had somehow managed to be passing by just as the fireworks were going on.

This was a wonderful way to end out first day on vacation. We had an entire week ahead of us and I had a lot more machines to check out.

In Character Shop – Hollywood Studios WDW

April 15, 2015April 29, 2015 / davidscointravels / 4 Comments

I’m baaack! Sorry couldn’t help myself. My big family vacation has come and gone and all I can say is wow we had an amazing time. Our kids loved meeting all the characters and of course I was able to visit every penny machine I had on checklist for this trip.

My original plan was to post an update of what we had done each day, but unfortunately the wi-fi in our resort was terrible and made connecting to the internet almost impossible. So here I am after a week-long visit to the happiest place on earth and I have so many notes and pictures I’m having a difficult time trying to figure out where to start.

Well I shouldn’t say that exactly, there was one very special machine I was able to access and knew I wanted to write about it immediately which I’m about to do. Then as I go through all my paperwork I will make additional posts going over everything we did and the pennies I collected.

Now on to the main event. This was a machine I had read about on PressCoins.com about 3 days before our trip. The information on this machine was actually listed on April 1st and to be honest I thought it may have been an April Fools prank. But none the less I updated my maps and to do list making sure I didn’t forgot to check it out just in case it actually was real…and to my surprise it was 100% reality.

On our 6th day in Orlando we had schedule to visit Hollywood Studios which is where this magical machine was supposed to be located. We spent the entire day at this part but I’ll write about all of that at a later date. For now I’ll jump right mid-morning after we had watched the Disney Junior Live On Stage show (which our kids went crazy for). This show is located right near the Magic of Disney Animation studio and a little outdoor store called In Character.

In the past this location has always had a penny machine that usually has 3 designs. But the big news was that this location now had a first of its kind. A new penny machine with 12 unique designs!! WHAT!?! Hopefully you can see how I could have convinced myself this was an April Fools joke but trust me it is real. I saw it with my own eyes and pressed every coin it had available.

As you can see from the picture above this looks more like an ATM machine than a penny machine, and it really was simple to use. There is a touch screen that you use first to select what language you would like to proceed with, then the machine asks you whether you want to press one design for $1.00 or all 12 for $10.00. Now these are amounts are more than the usual $0.51 (two quarters and penny to press). I can only assume this is to try to help recoup the cost of this advanced machine but who knows. If you decide to press only one design the screen will then ask which of the 12 designs you would like to press. I opted to press all 12 and made that option. The machine then prompts for payment. You can pay 1 of 3 ways. Cash, Credit Card or Apple Pay (if you have an Apple iPhone this is their new touch to pay system). Just to try something new I took out my phone and used the Apple Pay system which was really easy. I just touched my phone to the payment processing part of the machine, my phone prompted me for my fingerprint as authorization and I was done. The machine acknowledged my payment and started pressing the coins.

I took a close up picture (above) of the inner workings of the machine. As you can see it has 3 designs across and 4 designs on each die making 12 in total. The machine worked really quickly and I think it pressed multiple coins as once. It took less than a minute for all 12 designs to drop out of the machine into the holding cup at the bottom. The only issue I had with this machine was that I couldn’t use my own pennies. The machine has a hopper inside filled with all different types of pennies (pre-1982, post 1982, clean, dirty, and everything in between).

As you can see from the pennies I received most are in pretty good shape but there are a couple that were not so great. I was still happy with the overall process and the machine really was cool to watch it work. There were people waiting to use it after me so I grabbed my coins and left. Later in the day I went back to try to press some additional sets, but the machine was out of pennies and I was told by the store cast member that the attendant had been called but they didn’t know when it would be refilled.

I tried to give a close of the coins in the pictures above. The entire set was listed as the Heroines set which included all the Disney princesses. Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Ariel, Pocahontas, Mulan, Jasmine, Tiana, Belle, Aurora, Merida, and Alice. Even though not all the pennies came out great when I got back home I was able to clean them and they brightened up nicely. This is really a fantastic set and I hope that if this new machine is an experiment that it succeeds so we can look forward to more of its kind.

I will be trying to organize everything else I have from our trip and will post details of each day’s events. I’m still trying to get back in the mindset that I’m no longer in Orland and am back home having to go to work and pay bills. But the afterglow of our trip is still fresh and the smile I have on my face will be around for quite a while yet. Happy collecting!

Marketplace Fun Finds – Downtown Disney Florida

March 25, 2015April 29, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

Last week I had received new that there were two new penny machines put on stage at Downtown Disney (soon to be renamed Disney Springs). There is a lot of changes happening to Downtown Disney in addition to the name change, there are new restaurants and shops opening over the next year or so.

As with any new machines I find out about I immediately reached out to some of my contacts in Florida and was able to acquire the pennies from one of the new machines.

This new machine is currently located at the Marketplace Fun Finds store which is over by the Rainforest Cafe and next door to Goofy’s Candy Co. This is a great little shop that has inexpensive gifts and the famous Grab Bags with mystery items inside.

My friend told me that the penny machine worked without any issue, and as you can see from the picture below the designs came out great.

The four designs are of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy with a nice dotted border and their names in block letters. The designs are pretty simple but still have great detail.

The second new machine is located down in the West Side of Downtown Disney at the Cirque du Soleil gift shop. I’m still trying to acquire these new coins and will be sure to share details about them as soon as I get my hands on them.

With everything going on at Downtown Disney it’s great to see some new penny machines going on stage. I visited a few years ago and collected all the coins at that time and none of the designs had changed since then. Hopefully these aren’t the only new machines to appear before Disney Springs is completed.

2015 Walt Disney World Resort Coins – Part 5 (Set Complete)

March 17, 2015March 17, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

Here we are three months into 2015 and I have finally finished collecting the new 2015 pressed coin designs from the Walt Disney World resort. In total there are 15 coins that were scattered throughout the theme parks and resorts. A reliable seller on eBay I have used in the past came through and had the last two coins I was missing available and I snatched them up as quickly as I could

First is a pressed Quarter design of Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey holding a Mickey ice cream. This design is available in the Contemporary Resort on the 4th Floor concourse near the escalator up to the monorail platform.

The last design of this extensive set is of Tinker Bell flying and is available as a pressed Quarter. This design is located in Hollywood Studios at the Mickey’s of Hollywood store.

Here is it the complete 2015 set including 7 Quarters and 8 Pennies. As I mentioned in the very first post about this set it really does make for a fantastic mini-set. It would take some time to get to all the machine locations but I think would be definitely worth the effort. Below I have the design descriptions and current locations for each design in this set. When I visit the resort in a few weeks I’ll be visiting each of these locations to press another set (or two) and will update the below list if any locations have changed. Happy hunting!!

Magic Kingdom:
Emporium Store – 2015 Cinderella’s Castle (Penny)
Main Street Railroad Station – 2015 Cinderella’s Castle (Quarter)
Splashdown Photos – 2015 Chip & Dale (Penny)
Sir Mickey’s Store – 2015 Apprentice Mickey (Penny)

Epcot:
Mouse Gears Souvenir Store – 2015 Donald Duck (Penny)
The Land (near the Garden Grill) – 2015 Nemo (Quarter)

Hollywood Studios:
Mickey’s of Hollywood – 2015 Tinker Bell (Quarter)
Prop Shop – 2015 Minnie Mouse (Penny)

Animal Kingdom:
Chester & Hester’s – 2015 Nemo (Penny)
Harman Railway Station – 2015 Pluto (Quarter)

Resorts:
Contemporary Resort (4th floor concourse) – 2015 Apprentice Mickey (Quarter)
Contemporary Resort (4th floor concourse) – 2015 Tinker Bell (Penny)
Grand Floridian Resort (2nd floor Lobby) – 2015 Goofy (Penny)
All-Star Music Resort (Note’Able Games Arcade) – 2015 Daisy Duck (Quarter)
All-Star Sports Resort (Game Point arcade) – 2015 Donald Duck (Quarter)

2015 Walt Disney World Resort Coins – Part 4

March 2, 2015 / davidscointravels / Leave a comment

Trying to collect these last three 2015 coins from the Walt Disney Resort has proven a little more difficult than usual. I’ve explained the past that I almost always have a friend or family member visiting Disney at some numerous times during the year. Or if not I check eBay or some other online merchants, but this has proven a little more difficult and I’m not sure why. It could be due to the total number of new coins, or that they are spread out all throughout the entire property not just in the parks but also in certain resorts.

About a week ago I found an eBay auction with one of the last few coins I had been trying to acquire. I was able to win the auction and the coin arrived just this afternoon in the mail.

This design is on a penny and has Chip and Dale riding Splash Mountain with the 2015 year listed. The machine that has this design inside is located at the Splash Mountain gift shop near the photo preview area where the riders exit the attraction.

13 coins down and only two left. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for these last few designs but with just over a month to go until our family trip to Florida that may be the only way I can get these remaining coins. I can’t wait to get there and start pressing these coins.

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David's Coin Travels

Follow my journey across the country collecting elongated coins

Walt Disney World